The Story of Us
by bsloths
Summary: George and Nora find a mysterious DVD. And it's not of the Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian variety. For them, it's something much, much weirder. Dasey twoshot, mostly fluff.
1. The Story of Us

Hi! Here's some fluffy Daseyness, because it's the holiday season, and it makes me happy, so I hope it makes you happy too. (And because writing this was more fun than studying for finals!)

Derek and Casey are pretty OoC in this, but them being together in a fic makes it automatically OoC, so try not to let it bother you too much. :)

Italics are the video footage, just FYI.

Reviews make my day! (hint, hint)

…Brandi

Disclaimer: I don't own The Story of Us, the Hockey Hall of Fame, Ever After (though I own the DVD), Cinderella, Gordon Ramsay, 007, and of course, Life with Derek

**THE STORY OF US**

"Oooh, look, Georgie, someone burned a copy of 'The Story of Us,'" Nora exclaimed to her husband, as they were rooting through the DVD collection, trying to find a movie to watch on a rare night home alone.

Derek and Casey were each out on a date, Edwin and Marti were at Abby's, and Lizzie had gone to Jamie's birthday party.

George shrugged noncommittally, "Sure. That sounds fine."

"This wasn't here the other day—I guess someone must have accidentally left it in the DVD pile?" she wondered aloud, popping in the disc anyway.

"This isn't 'The Story of Us,'" Nora complained, as a home video filled the screen.

"It's something Derek filmed, I think," George answered. "The title's in his handwriting."

It looked to be footage from Casey and Derek's sociology project, but it ended with a shot of Casey in the bathroom, gargling mouthwash.

"I've never seen THIS before," Nora remarked, and George grunted in agreement. "Why is he filming her in the bathroom?"

George shrugged, but answered, "Well, let's watch it and see what it is."

A title card flashed across the screen, reading, "The Story of Us: A Video Scrapbook by Derek Venturi and Casey McDonald."

_Derek and Casey were running around the snow-covered backyard, hurling snowballs at each other, and laughing hysterically. As Casey bent down to form another snowball, Derek ran at her and tackled her to the ground, pinning her on her stomach. She screeched in mock fear and he began tickling her, which seemed to have an effect despite her heavy coat. They continued laughing until they couldn't breathe; Derek rolled off her and lay in the snow next to her, panting. _

_Casey pecked his cheek affectionately, and as she started to get up, she noticed the camera._

"_EDWIN! What are you doing? Give me that…" she trailed off as she ran at the cameraman. _

_Edwin turned the camera around so that he was filming himself and grinned widely, saying, "Oops, busted!" _

_The camera turned back on Derek and Casey, who were running at him, laughing again. _

The scene changed; this time Derek was in front of the camera.

_He zoomed in on his watch, which read 5:58. He whispered, "Today is Casey's birthday—she turns seventeen in exactly three minutes. Since it's still really early and no one else will be up for another hour, I decided to surprise her. Let's go check on Sleeping Beauty now…" _

_Derek turned the camera towards Casey's door, and he pushed it open, revealing a sleeping Casey. _

_He set the camera down on her desk, and got in front of it once again, saying sheepishly, "One of two things is going to happen. One, she'll be really angry that I woke her up so early on her birthday. Or two, and this is the one I'm hoping for—she'll be so grateful that I made her breakfast in bed that she'll forget she's up at the crack of dawn." He panned to a tray of scrambled eggs, toast, and orange juice he had set on her night table, then spun the camera so it landed on Casey's sleeping form. _

_He tiptoed over and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open, and when they focused on Derek, she smiled. "Hey!" _

"_Good morning, birthday girl," he replied, unable to keep the smile from his face. _

_He walked back over to the camera, and zoomed in on Casey who groaned, "Der-ek! I'm a mess! Can you at least wait until I shower?" _

_He shook the camera as if shaking his head. "No way, you look beautiful." _

_She rolled her eyes, but didn't respond, because she seemed to have smelled her breakfast. "Did you make this?" she asked incredulously, pointing to the tray. _

_He put the camera down again, before getting in front of it and saying, "She acts like I've never cooked before. Please. I'm a regular Gordon Hamsay!" _

"_RAMsay!" she corrected as he shut off the camera with a wink. _

The scene changed again; now they were in Derek's room.

_Derek was sitting at his desk, camera turned towards himself again. "Today, Casey and I drove to Toronto so she could show me all her old haunts- you know, the seedy taverns, and abandoned houses-"_

_He was cut off by a hand entering the frame and smacking him lightly in the back of the head. "We went to GOOD places," she insisted, bringing her face close to Derek's so she would be on camera. _

_He snorted, "Oh, yeah, I looooved the ballet." _

_She pouted, and frowned at him. "Derek, I spent three hours in the Hockey Hall of Fame for you!" _

_She turned back to the camera, giggling. "I'm the best girlfriend EVER!" _

_He also turned to the camera and shook his head vehemently. "She's crazy. She thinks a little dose of hockey will make me forget those guys in spandex?" He shuddered. "Oooh, no." _

_Putting the camera down in full view of the bed, he led her to it, pushing her down and pretending he couldn't get off of her, despite her protests. "Der-ek! Come on, the camera's still on!" _

_He grinned at her. "Nope, I shut it off. We're officially done with the Derek-and-Casey video scrapbook for the night." _

_She smiled up at him, since he was still pinning her to the bed. "Who knew you'd be such a romantic?" _

_She pushed him off of her and rolled onto her back, so they were laying side-by-side. _

"_Der, what are we going to do about prom?" She leaned up on one elbow, facing him. _

_He looked at her, suddenly serious. "Are we going?" _

_She sighed. "You know I want to. But how are we going to explain being each other's prom dates to Mom and George? It's been hard enough keeping this a secret. Nobody knows except Lizzie and Edwin, and they can't exactly help us." _

_Derek paused for a moment before answering, then asked hesitantly, "Do we want to tell Sam? Then I could go with his date and you could go with him. Then obviously the rest of the school will figure it out once we start dancing together, but we can worry about that later." _

_She mulled this over for moment, forehead creasing with worry. "But if we tell Sam, we should tell Emily too. She'd be really hurt if she found out he knew before she did." _

_Derek nodded. "I agree. So let's tell them both, and they can help us figure out prom." _

_Casey grinned, and nestled against Derek's chest. He put an arm around her, and kissed the top of her head. _

_They were silent for a few moments, just enjoying each other's company, when Casey lifted her head and looked at Derek. _

_She whispered, "I love you, Derek." _

_He sat bolt upright in surprise, accidentally throwing her off of him. He whipped his head around to face her and spluttered, "You…really?" _

_She nodded, laughing at him and blushing furiously, "Yeah, I have no idea why, but I do." She began to look worried. "Do you, uh, I mean…" She was having as much trouble talking as Derek had had a moment earlier. _

_He understood what she was trying to ask, and relaxed a bit. He took both of her hands in his and said in a perfectly steady voice, "I love you, Casey." _

_She smiled then, and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "I was so nervous you wouldn't say it back!" she replied happily. _

_He pulled back from the hug and got serious again, "Case, you're the most important person in the world to me. Well, you're almost as important as Marti," he teased, and she stuck her tongue out at him playfully. _

_They hugged again, this time lying back down on the bed. She moved to kiss him, and it seemed to dawn on him that the camera was still on—he jumped up, muttering, "One second." _

_As he got off the bed and walked to the camera, Casey realized what he was doing and reprimanded, "Der-ek! You had the camera on this whole time?!" _

_She was growing redder by the second. He turned to grin at her, "You mean you didn't know? You told me you love me and it was just pure luck that I got it on film?" _

_He looked awfully excited by this, but she was just the slightest bit annoyed. _

"_You told me it was off, you jerk!" she crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a reproachful look. _

_He smirked and answered, "I lied," before reaching over and turning off the camera. _

The movie faded into a shot of Casey applying lipstick in the mirror.

_Derek was setting up the camera on a tripod. His reflection was visible, and he was wearing a tux that put 007 to shame. _

_Casey was dressed in a lavender gown that hugged her in all the right places, and was wearing her hair long and curly. _

_He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, so that he was talking to both the mirror and the camera in the reflection. "I can't believe it's our Senior Prom," he mused, and she tried to pry herself away from his grasp. _

"_Derek, don't you know the rules? The guy can't see the girl before her top-of-the-stairs moment." _

_He let go of her and scoffed, "Please, it's not our wedding." _

_She grinned at him, "But someday it will be, so let's practice now. Shoo, I'm getting ready." _

_He made to leave, and then paused. "What's the top-of-the-stairs moment?" _

_She laughed. "You know, it's like in Ever After and those kinds of movies where the girl reaches the top of the stairs and the prince swoons because she looks so perfect in the dress, the hair, everything, and he can't wait to ask her to dance." _

_Derek smirked. "I get it; you're trying to be Cinderella again. Well guess what? I don't do fairy tales. I'm going to the prom to dance with my girlfriend and have fun, not to be Prince Charming. And I happen to think you look perfect all the time, so there really won't be much swooning involved on my part." _

_She laughed again, "I don't know how you do it. You make ME swoon by saying you're the opposite of Prince Charming. Go figure, my prince is a frog!" _

_Derek bent towards the camera, ready to turn it off, but instead he grinned devilishly and turned back to Casey. "If I remember correctly, that particular fairy tale involves lots of kissing. I think I can make an exception just this once." _

_Casey giggled, and came over to shut off the camera for him. "Of course. Come here, frog…"_

And the footage went black.

George and Nora felt as though they had been hit in the head with a bag of rocks. They stared open-mouthed at the blank screen, for at least a minute. Neither of them could speak.

Nora stood up, ejected the DVD, and placed it back in its case, still thunderstruck. Meanwhile, George was sitting on the couch, at a loss for words.

"So apparently, our children are in love," she said in monotone to George.

He seemed to snap out of his trance a bit and looked at her, dazed. "Uh, aren't they each on a date right now?"

Nora buried her face in her hands, unable to articulate her emotions at the moment.

"They share a car. Derek said he was dropping Casey at her date's house on the way to his own date," George pondered, clearly thinking out loud.

Nora let out a long breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "Convenient, isn't it? It's been a year, George. Our children have been secretly dating for over a year, and we had no idea."

She looked at George hesitantly. "Georgie, is it weird that I find this kind of…romantic?"

George chuckled. "Nah. Our kids are perfect for each other. I knew it from the start. I just didn't know _they'd_ actually figure it out."

Nora sat back down next to George, her head resting on his shoulder. "I suppose we'd better wait up for them and have a looong talk when they get home."

George smiled lovingly at his wife. "Sounds like a plan."

So they settled in to watch some TV until their children came home from their date.


	2. An Inconvenient Truth

I'm so glad so many people liked this story; now I'm back for The Talk – let the awkwardness begin!

FYI, I changed the rating to T due to the nature of some of the conversation. I took the yes stance on the issue of "do they or don't they" in regards to Casey and Derek's love life, and obviously Nora and George are going to talk to them about it. So if that offends you, I'm sorry.

I wasn't going to continue this, but a few people asked for more, so here you go. A big thanks to all the reviewers of Chapter 1, and I hope you enjoy the second part. This time the story's actually complete!

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I own zip, nada, null, nix, goose egg, zero, zilch, none, nothing.

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH

The wait was interminably long.

Lizzie came in after Jamie's mom dropped her off, and she sensed her parents' discomfort right away. Luckily, she was so tired that they got her to go up to bed with a promise that they'd go out to breakfast in the morning.

Finally, Derek and Casey's curfew approached. Ten minutes…

Seven minutes…

Four minutes…

"Georgie, I'm so nervous."

"Nora, _we're_ the adults here. We will control the conversation. Our plan is foolproof."

"I'm still nervous."

Two minutes…

"Well if they're late we can break the ice by yelling about that first," George joked.

Fifty seconds…

Casey and Derek burst through the door, wheezing and laughing. Derek pumped his fist into the air. "Made it!" he cried triumphantly.

The teens noticed their parents sitting solemnly on the couch.

"Oh, hi Mom, hi George. We thought you'd be in bed," Casey remarked, taking off her coat and walking into the living room.

George shut off the late night talk show that he and Nora had been killing time watching and gave his wife an encouraging look.

Nora steeled herself to begin the little speech they had cooked up.

"Casey, Derek, come here. We'd like to talk to you about something important."

Nora noticed that they exchanged a worried look, but she remained on topic as Derek settled into his chair and Casey took the one opposite him.

"George and I have been doing some research about housing costs at the University of Toronto, and looking at our budget," she began.

"Don't you mean _Edwin_ has been doing research and looking at your budget?" Derek interjected.

George gave him a dirty look. "Not the time, Derek, believe me."

Derek wiped the smirk off his face and Nora saw his gaze flicker to Casey again.

And again, it amazed her that she had had no idea what they'd been up to for the past year.

She continued. "Anyway, we feel that it would be the most cost-effective if you two got an apartment together instead of living in separate dorms. Do you think that would be something you'd be willing to try?"

Nora saw both their eyes light up for the briefest moment, but knew it was only because she was looking for it. They did a wonderful job of acting offended.

"Mom! No. I thought I'd be getting away from him. It's bad enough you made me share a house with the Neanderthal for over three years, now you want us to live alone? Together? We'll already be at the same school!" Casey stuck her tongue out at Derek, and he returned the gesture.

"What the keener said," he added, jabbing his thumb at her rudely.

George sighed dramatically. "We didn't think you'd go for it. That's why we took the liberty of going apartment hunting for you the last time we were in Toronto."

Derek and Casey both sat up a little straighter, crying, "What!?" at the same time.

George nodded vehemently. "Oh, yeah, we even took video footage of some of the apartments, so you could see them for yourselves. Then we can go back as a family and pick out the one you guys want. Because you _will_ decide on one. It's not fair to us to pay for two dorms."

Nora and George shared a smile. They were enjoying Casey and Derek's discomfort; too bad the next part of their plan would make or break the night.

"I can't believe we're doing this _now_," Derek muttered, clearly annoyed, and still a bit wary of where this was going.

George knew the apartment thing would be a hard sell, but they seemed to have bought it so far. After all, the Lord of the Lies had a father, didn't he? Where else would Derek have learned it?

"So," Nora kept her voice light. "Let's look at the footage. We just finished editing it right before you guys got home. And no Derek, we didn't use your camera. Or your editing software, so wipe that frown off your face."

Derek shifted in his seat, but didn't respond.

"Okay, here it is," Nora said as she pressed play on the DVD. She and George had stopped The Story of Us right at the part where had Casey told Derek she loved him, and the screen filled with Derek and Casey intertwined on the bed.

The teens watched in horror as Movie Casey said, "I love you, Derek."

They both jumped up, instantly recognizing the DVD, and began yelling frantically, running to the DVD player and both scrambling to turn it off.

George and Nora watched in amusement as they continued yelling. Every few seconds they caught words like "mistake" and "personal."

The adults began to laugh. And laugh, and laugh, and laugh, until Casey and Derek quieted down. They stood in front of the television, horrorstruck and mortified, gazing in utter confusion at their parents, who were giggling away.

George choked through his laughter, "Do…you…have…" More laughter. "Any…idea…how much…trouble you're in right now?" He said the last few words in a completely sober voice. Nora had quieted instantly as well.

Casey and Derek continued to stare at their parents, unsure of what to do.

Derek managed to blurt out, "I was watching it earlier and I had to run over to the Davis's to pick up Marti, so I guess I tossed it in the pile and forgot to put it back in my room."

"You idiot!" Casey cried, thumping Derek on the shoulder.

"Thanks for that, Derek, but that explains nothing. Care to tell us something relevant?" George's voice was kind, but he looked stern.

Derek plopped back into his chair, completely dazed. Casey followed and sat next to him on the chair's arm, but Derek pulled her into his lap.

"Der-ek!" she squealed, shooting their parents an apologetic look.

Nora and George echoed Casey with another, "Der-ek!"

Derek shrugged, pushing Casey off of him gently. "Too soon, huh?" He grinned.

George glared at his son, "We're asking the questions around here, so you keep quiet."

Derek obeyed, allowing Casey to settle next to him, but placing a hand on her thigh protectively.

"As you can imagine, we were absolutely floored by what we saw," George told them. "Floored, but at the same time happy for you. It's obvious how much you two care about each other, and it disappoints us that you think we would stand in the way of that. So we approve of your relationship, if only because we know saying otherwise would prompt a lot of problems. And we'd rather deal with the problems that come with you being together, than those that would come by keeping you apart.

"That being said," George continued pointedly when he noticed their hopeful looks, "we are very disappointed in you, and how much you've been lying to us this past year. Your mother and I will be discussing a punishment, but expect to see nothing but your respective bedroom walls for a while."

Casey looked on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry, Mom, George," she said in a small voice. Quivering, she got up to give Nora and George both a hug. "Thank you."

Nora smiled at her daughter sadly. "Casey, I hope you know that I love you no matter what. If you had told me of your feelings for Derek we would have worked something out. This means it's going to take a long time before I can trust you again." Nora was beginning to cry.

"I know, Mom," Casey replied, tears sliding down her own cheeks. Derek reached over and wiped them, squeezing her hand for comfort. She ruffled his hair and they exchanged a sad look.

George could tell Derek was feeling guilty as well, but knew an emotional display from him was out of the question. Derek merely fixed him with a long look, and said evenly, "I'm sorry too, Dad. And Nora."

George nodded his head in acceptance, and reached to punch him on the arm. "Sorry for lying, or sorry for getting caught?" he asked, only half joking.

Derek smirked. "Both."

George nodded again. "Fair enough."

"Okay, moving on," Nora took over from George as she finished drying her eyes. "We're serious about you two sharing an apartment if you'd like."

Derek's expression changed to one of excitement. "Really? You don't mind if we keep living together?"

"It's not the ideal arrangement, but it is cheaper, and we figured you'd want to," Nora answered. She really didn't want to ask the next question, but for her own peace of mind, she knew she had to. "Are you two, uh, intimate?" She squeezed her eyes shut after she said it, as if darkness would cushion the blow.

Casey paled, and Derek shifted uncomfortably. "Is it really any of your business?" he blurted out. It was a weak deflection attempt, and Derek knew it.

Casey realized Derek was definitely not going to talk about this, so she took the reins. "Yes." She let out a long breath and eyed her mother, whose face went from angry to disappointed to resigned in about ten seconds. But she merely smiled thinly back at her, and Casey went on. "We're always safe, and we make sure no one else is home."

Nora sighed. "Okay, well, George and I talked about this, and we decided there will be no more until you move out in a few months. I don't think that's too much to ask, do you?"

Derek made a protesting noise at the back of his throat, but Casey nudged him and he stayed quiet. "That's fine, Mom. We understand."

"And I'm going to make you a gynecologist appointment, just for my peace of mind. And we'll put you on the Pill, so you'll be doubly safe."

Casey nodded in acceptance.

"And Derek, I'm taking you to get an STD test," George spoke up. "Again, just for reassurance on our part."

Derek didn't stay quiet at this. "I don't have an STD!" he said indignantly.

"Have you ever been tested?"

"No, but…"

"Then we're going. Just to be sure. I'm assuming Casey doesn't need one as of right now?"

Casey shook her head. "Derek's the only guy I've been with," she said quietly, and Derek took her hand and squeezed it again.

Nora looked very relieved at this, but refrained from saying anything more on the subject.

George shuddered, as if cleansing himself of the information, and said, "Enough of that. Nora, your turn."

"Well, I'd like to know how you got together, actually," she said, recovering slightly from the sting of the last topic.

Casey and Derek smiled at each other, and Nora and George exchanged one as well when they saw the love in their children's eyes.

"We just sort of became friends, and then fell into a relationship. It was a smooth transition," Casey explained. "I starting having feelings for Derek, and I admitted it to him. He told me he'd liked me for a long time, but hadn't had the guts to say anything. Besides, the whole stepsibling issue was a problem. But once we finally told our friends, we realized it really didn't matter."

"Oh, it matters, but it's not a problem," George interrupted, and Derek took the opportunity to interject as well.

"I love how you come out as the hero in that little story, Case. It wasn't lack of guts that kept me from saying anything, it was…" he trailed off, unsure of the right words.

"Fear of rejection?" George suggested, and they all laughed.

"Next time you tell the story you have to mention how I swept you off your feet and became the best boyfriend in the world. I gave up being a skirt-chasing cad for you, Case."

She smacked him in the chest. "You're a dope. Fine, I'll add that you swept me off my feet, _after_ you worked up the courage to confess your feelings."

"A little credit's all I ask for," he replied, kissing her on the cheek.

Their parents watched this exchange contentedly. They really were perfect together.

Nora yawned, realizing how late it was getting. "Alright. Back to the rules. If for whatever reason you two fight or separate for any length of time, there will be no hostility in this house. You will act as normal as possible, or at least as normal as you did before you started dating. No more lying about where you're going. If you want to go out on a date, go out on a date. But tell us where you're really going. No PDA around the kids, don't do anything in the common areas of the house that George and I wouldn't do. Be quiet, Derek," she admonished, realizing he was about to make a snarky comment.

"I know Ed and Liz already know about you two, but I'd like you to break the news carefully to Marti. And Casey, I suggest you call your father, and Derek, you'd better call your mother. Just so there aren't any nasty surprises if one of them comes to visit. I think that's the basics for tonight. George and I will dole out your punishment in the morning, once we come to a final decision."

It was a lot to take in at once, but to their credit Derek and Casey nodded accommodatingly. "Thank you, Mom, and George. Really. I'm sorry we lied to you, but we had no idea you'd be this nice about it." Casey got up and hugged them both again, and even Derek hugged them with a quick, "Thank you."

"Now, get to sleep. It's been a long night for all of us," Nora instructed, shooing them up the stairs.

"Oh my gosh, Mom, look!" Casey whispered, as she and Derek both paused at the bottom of the steps. George came over to see what was going on, and the four of them spotted Lizzie, curled up asleep on the top step, cell phone in hand.

Casey tiptoed up and removed the phone, bringing it back downstairs. They huddled around as Casey motioned for them to read what the screen said. It held a text message from Edwin, saying, "Took em long enough. Night Liz."

Casey scrolled through the inbox and saw twelve texts from Edwin in the last half hour. "They've been spying on our conversation!" she whispered, still trying not to wake her sister. "Our yelling earlier must have woken her up."

Derek chuckled, feeling relaxed for the first time since they'd been home. "Those two will never change."

Nora and George looked at each other, shrugging. "We already have one punishment to discuss, I guess we'll let Lizzie and Ed go on this one," Nora told her husband. He agreed, and they said good night to Casey and Derek, hugging each of them once more.

Derek took Casey's hand as they made their way quietly up the stairs, and he bent to lift Lizzie, who stirred, but stayed asleep. He tucked her into her bed, and joined Casey, who had gone into the bathroom.

"Some night, huh?" Casey asked as they stood at the mirror together, brushing and flossing. Derek whipped the floss teasingly at her face, as he was so fond of doing.

Casey batted it away, flicking her wet toothbrush at him.

"I can't believe I left that DVD out." Something occurred to him. "And I forgot to bring it upstairs _again_. Oops."

Casey rolled her eyes. "You're such a loser. At least they found out that way. It could have been worse."

"So much worse," Derek agreed, as he squirted toothpaste onto his brush. Casey finished brushing and turned to leave, kissing him quickly on the cheek, as his mouth was full of foam. "Goodnight, Der. Love you."

"Love you too, Case."

He winked, and she wiggled her bunny slippers at him before turning around and leaving the bathroom, closing the door softly behind her.


End file.
